Direction
by parma-violets
Summary: Sakura wants so much to be able to show her the way home. But the princess knows she’s already gone too far down the wrong path. CONTAINS MAJOR OVA 3 SPOILERS!


**A/N:** Written _unbelievably _quickly after viewing the third TC OVA – because I'm childish and I wanted to make sure no one did this before I did! So forgive any major errors and … well, just general vagueness. I know I coulda done this way better if I'd taken a little more time on it … but who knows? This idea may end up spawning a multi-chaptered fic!

Obviously, this **contains OVA 3 spoilers** – major kudos to IG for shocking me a little in a show that everyone knows the storyline to (even the big animation companies wanna do a TRCxCCS crossover!). Ah, how I loved it … despite the evil-looking spike-in-the-foot that reminded me painfully of the House of Wax. And now I'm so sad we have no TC anime coming our way! At least for a long time …

Obviously, there is no evidence whatsoever in the anime or the manga for the situation I'm portraying here. I just took the idea and ran with it.

**Disclaimer:** All this aside, I do not own TRC, or CCS, for that matter. I'm planning on blowing my overdraft on shoes tomorrow, so the odds of me buying out CLAMP are fairly low.

**Summary:** Sakura wants so much to be able to show her the way home. But the princess knows she's already gone too far down the wrong path.

**Direction**

She entered the princess's subconscious in time to find herself on the floor of a derelict building, being showered in debris as a particularly huge chunk of rock fell down and crushed her ankle.

Sakura screamed, but no sound came out of her mouth. The older body of her counterpart tugged furiously at her leg, apparently ignoring the blinding pain radiating from mangled tendons and cartilage. Sakura watched the blood pouring out of her foot, staining the rock below. She couldn't understand how the princess was still so _calm _– wasn't she frightened? Didn't this hurt? Why didn't she go back and ask for help?

Suddenly the creature – the awful reptilian creature that she had seen before – started to clamber into the building, roaring threateningly. The princess continued to pull futilely at her leg, increasing the pain but doing nothing to free herself. Then, with no other option, she reached for the gun at her side.

_No!_ Sakura screamed in her own head, watching in horror as the hands that weren't hers lifted the gun and aimed. _Oh please, don't let her fire it … she doesn't want to kill, not even those things, I know she doesn't!_

The princess fired several shots, causing the creature to drop dead to the floor.

If Sakura had been in control of the body, she would have vomited. As it was, the princess picked herself up and moved on.

Then they were on the cliffs, struggling to clamber up rocky terrain. The princess was not strong enough to climb, having never been subjected to such an environment in her life. Sakura had been rock-climbing and wanted to take over and help, but she knew that was beyond the limits of her interference.

When the princess fell and impaled her foot on a piece of rusted metal, Sakura cursed the rules more than ever.

She found the strange looking egg, blood dripping down her face and into her eyes. She shot two more serpentine creatures, completely decimating them. Then she began to walk through the acid water, which burned through her boots and seared the skin of her feet.

Sakura screamed in the princess's mind, sobbing from the pain of such a poor, innocent girl who had done nothing to deserve it. Every second was agony. And yet the girl kept going, showing an inner strength that even Sakura wasn't sure she would be capable of finding.

Finally the princess's hands closed around her objective, and she held it close to her chest, whispering to it softly.

"Even after this, I will have to hurt people, and take things … all for my own selfish reasons. I know I will face retribution for it, but still … even so, I want to find your lost heart … Syaoran-kun."

Inside the princess's mind, Sakura wept.

**xxx**

Sakura shot up in bed, breathing heavily as she tried to regain her bearings. 

Every night for the past week, she'd been seeing glimpses into the life of her other self. Still, at least that one had been relatively tame, despite the fact that she'd never felt pain like it. She'd seen far worse things. A man's eye being torn out of its socket. A version of her Syaoran being stabbed in the leg. And worst of all, another Syaoran regarding her doppelganger with cold disinterest, dropping her to the floor and walking away without even looking back.

Despite the late hour, Sakura reached for the phone by her bedside table and dialled a familiar number, waiting desperately for him to answer.

"'Mm'lo?" he muttered sleepily into the phone, and Sakura felt calmer just hearing his voice.

"Syaoran-kun," she breathed, snuggling under the duvet and holding the phone tighter. "Sorry to call so late …"

"It's okay," Syaoran replied, waking up quickly. "Did you have another one?"

"Yes," Sakura said in a small voice. She'd gotten into the rather bad habit of calling her boyfriend every time she had one of the dreams. She was just struck by the impulse, every night, to assure herself that _her _Syaoran was okay and in one piece. That her Syaoran still loved her with all of his heart.

"Do you need me to come over?" he asked, sounding worried.

For a moment, she was tempted. But then she shook her head. "No. No, don't come, I'm all right. It wasn't even that bad tonight. I just … wanted to hear your voice."

"Oh, um … right."

She knew he was blushing, even though she couldn't see him.

"Time must pass much slower for them," Sakura mused, more to herself than anything. "I've been dreaming about the same day over the course of a week."

"Was she all right?" Syaoran asked suddenly.

Sakura smiled; he had a habit of asking after her other self, but never the other versions of him. Selflessness appeared to be a trait that crossed dimensions. "She was … determined. But most definitely not all right."

There was an anxious silence, before Syaoran asked again, "Are you sure you don't want me to come round?"

"No, I'm all right," Sakura insisted. "I'll go back to sleep for now."

"Okay," he sighed. "But call me tomorrow?"

"I will," she promised, pausing slightly before blurting out, "I love you."

"I love you too," Syaoran replied awkwardly. The whole love idea was still a little new to them, no matter how strongly they felt it.

Sakura hung up her phone before lying back down on the bed. It seemed so unfair – downright _cruel _– that she should have her Syaoran with her, while the princess in her dreams had not only been separated from the boy she loved, but had had him turn on her. She wished she was able to help. She'd give anything to be able to do something for her other self. But she knew the limits of her own interference, and didn't dare breech the boundaries – after all, you never knew if you were making things worse or not. 

She closed her eyes, willing herself to go back to sleep despite her fear of what she might see.

_Sakura-hime … I wish I could help. I wish I could do something for you …_

Beside her bed, the Dream card glowed in response.

**xxx**

Sakura found herself back in the realms of the world she'd learned to call 'Acid Tokyo'. But this dream was different from all the others. She wasn't in the subconscious of the princess. In fact, the princess was nowhere to be seen. The landscape was as barren and as bare of life as ever, and Sakura felt strangely discomfited at the absence of her other self.

Where was she? What had happened after she had gotten the egg? Was she hurt somewhere? Had she found her way home?

The compass had been broken, Sakura knew that much. And so she set off at a run, desperately searching for the older version of herself.

Finally Sakura found what she was searching for, and she stopped dead in her tracks. The princess was standing right in front of her, and the sight made Sakura gasp in horror. The girl was bruised and beaten, her feet burned red raw, an eye was nearly swollen shut, her clothes were ripped and stained in blood … she could barely walk. Sakura knew there was no way she'd be able to make it back by herself.

"… my footprints aren't here any more," the princess murmured weakly to herself, and Sakura felt sickened as she realised the girl had been following her own bloody footprints.

Slowly Sakura approached the princess, wondering if she could see her. Sakura knew the way back. She didn't know how, but she knew. She had to help her other self, somehow. 

The princess turned around suddenly, as if sensing a presence, and suddenly the two of them were facing each other.

Technically Sakura knew she was violating a massive universal law – but she couldn't care. She'd use every power in her arsenal to guarantee herself just a few minutes with this girl; to make sure she got home safe. It was the saddest thing, to see someone who shared her soul looking so very broken, every speck of her innocence eradicated … but Sakura smiled warmly, holding out her hand.

The princess didn't approach her, which Sakura was thankful for. Instead she began to walk, slowly leading the princess away from the nightmare and towards her makeshift family.

Sakura reached out to the person behind her, gently caressing the girl with the warmth of her magic. _You'll be okay,_ she promised quietly in her mind, knowing the princess could hear every word.

The two trekked silently over the rocky terrain, Sakura gradually leading the princess back to those who would care for her. Her heart ached at the other girl's misery, wanting so desperately to ease it, to tell her something that would make it all better. But she knew that such words didn't exist – after all, if Syaoran had left her, she knew her world would be falling apart.

_You have to believe in the heart that fell in love with you,_ she thought suddenly, turning to the princess with wide eyes. The princess was watching her in utter fascination, and Sakura swallowed hard at the attention. _Happily ever after does exist for you and Syaoran-kun, I know it – I found mine, after all._

The princess frowned, confusion warring in her exhausted mind. "Who …"

_Please, don't give up. You can't give up – not on him. Not when you love him so much._

Sakura leaned forward, seeing the government building was in sight, and went to take the princess's hand. Half way there she thought better of it, and left her hand suspended between them. Hazily the princess did the same, moving so that their palms were hovering a centimetre away from each other, as though separated by a pane of glass.

Smiling, Sakura leaned forward and whispered, "Everything will definitely be all right!"

As she felt herself being pulled out of the dream, she swore she saw a flicker of hope in the princess's bloodshot eyes.

"_Everything will definitely be all right!"_

"_I want to find your lost heart … Syaoran-kun."_


End file.
